COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Luca Cerasani, Sam Malafronte linked through high school and college

Jim Fenton The Enterprise @JFenton_ent

Friday

Oct 26, 2018 at 6:20 PMOct 26, 2018 at 8:34 PM

The 2015 Abington High School graduates have been defensive leaders at Worcester Polytechnic Institute during their careers. Cerasani's senior season came to an end last month due to a knee injury.

The first time they were teammates was on a youth hockey squad while in third grade nearly a decade and a half ago.

Sam Malafronte and Luca Cerasani of Abington have been through countless practices, training sessions and games together through the years since then.

They were on the football and basketball teams at Abington High School, helping the Green Wave win the Division 5 Super Bowl as seniors in 2014, and have spent four seasons together on the Worcester Polytechnic Institute defensive unit.

The former Enterprise All-Scholastics, who are two of the Engineers’ captains this fall, are roommates and have helped each other since arriving on the campus in Worcester in 2015.

“It’s easier when you’re here with someone you know,’’ said Malafronte, an inside linebacker. “You’ve got someone to talk to about stuff. The first couple of weeks (as a freshman), you don’t really know people and you’ve never lived with other people before you get to college, so it makes it easier.’’

Said Cerasani, a defensive lineman: “It’s been a pretty cool experience and beneficial to have someone you know here. You’re never going to be going somewhere by yourself. If it’s a practice or a meeting or a lift, you always have someone there and it kind of takes away the stress of being by yourself until you really get to know all the guys. It really helped a lot.’’

Malafronte and Cerasani were key parts of a WPI defense that ranked among the best nationally in Division 3 last season when the Engineers tied the program record for wins by going 9-2.

They were both selected to the All-New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference first team and Cerasani, who had 21 tackles for a loss of 87 yards with eight sacks, was the most valuable player of the Northeast Bowl when WPI defeated SUNY Maritime, 17-3.

But because of an injury, Malafronte and Cerasani have played their final game together in intertwined athletic careers that began in Abington.

In the second quarter of the season’s fourth game, the WPI home opener against Springfield College on Sept. 22, Cerasani tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

He will apply to return as a fifth-year senior in 2019, but Malafronte will be gone if Cerasani does come back for a final season.

“It stinks,’’ said Cerasani, who will undergo surgery, “but it’s the game that we play. You’ve got to play every play like it’s your last.

“It hurts not being out there with my teammates practicing every day, playing the games. But at the same time, it is what it is. It’s the game. I just have to be there for my teammates.’’

Malafronte knows what Cerasani is going through since he tore an ACL in the opening game of his junior season at Abington against Duxbury.

After missing the 2013 season, Malafronte came back and helped the Green Wave get to Gillette Stadium where they defeated Northbridge, 36-6.

“It’s tough to do it,’’ said Malafronte. “There’s no words for it. Everyone knows it can happen any play, but to have it senior year is tough. He’s had a great career.’’

Cerasani has 129 tackles with 22 sacks for 131 yards in 35 career games while Malafronte has made 185 tackles with two interceptions in 36 games. He has 25 tackles and an interception in six games this season for API, which is 4-3.

After getting on the field as freshmen, Cerasani and Malafronte became starters as sophomores and helped turn WPI in the right direction.

“They’ve very hard-nosed, very tough, hard working young men,’’ said coach Chris Robertson. “They have risen to the top with their passion for the game, their love for WPI. They’ve been strong leaders in the program.

“You can tell they come from a good place. Coach (Jim) Kelliher runs a great program (at Abington). Anytime we’ve had Abington kids here, they’ve done extremely well. They are definitely two guys we felt strongly about right away and they reached their potential.

“Sam calls the defense. Sam and I always are on the same page. He’s got leadership qualities without a doubt. He’s a gritty kid with instincts and athleticism. Luca is a great kid. He’s a difference maker on the football field. He’s a very special player, a talented player. We felt he could develop into something special in our 3-4 defense.’’

Malafronte was the first of the two to commit to WPI as a senior at Abington High, and Cerasani was next in the spring of his final year of high school.

“I came out of high school looking at a couple of schools, but things didn’t go the way I thought they would,’’ said Cerasani. “I was looking late, didn’t really have a place to go and got in touch with coach Robertson. (Malafronte) told me about the program and what he knew, what it’d be like. It made it easier.’’

The two worked their way into the WPI lineup by 2016 and became mainstays on the defense, one at linebacker and the other on the line.

“He helped me a considerable amount,’’ said Malafronte of Cerasani. “He’s real good. Playing behind our D-line taking on blockers and double teams, it opens gaps for the linebackers. He’s definitely made it easy.

“I think we both have kind of similar mentalities practice wise. We practice real hard and that translates to make it easier on game days. We know we’re there to play. We take it serious.’’

Said Cerasani: “Every year he gets better and better, calling the defenses and getting everyone ready for every play.’’

Cerasani will have to watch from the sideline the rest of the season as Malafronte finishes his career at WPI. But the teammates since third grade will always be known as the Abington connection for the Engineers.

“They are, for the most part, inseparable,’’ said Robertson. “They’re on the same schedule, they work hard, both are weight room junkies. There are a tremendous amount of similarities with those two.’’

Jim Fenton may be reached at jfenton@enterprisenews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JFenton_ent.

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